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Christians, Refugees and Aleppo.

As thousands continue to evacuate Aleppo—once Syria’s most populous city and home to one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle East—American support for refugees is dwindling.
American Christians are less responsive to the Syrian crisis than they were a year ago, according to a World Vision survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs.

Fewer “committed Christians” said they had taken action on behalf of refugees in the past two years. In 2016, 38 percent said they had been involved, down from 44 percent the year before. The number of committed Christians praying for Syrian refugees dropped by more than a third this year, down to 19 percent.

“It’s disappointing to see America’s heart closing to refugees. This is not the compassionate and generous nation I know we truly are,” said Richard Stearns, president of World Vision, which launched a Christmas solidarity campaign called #Candle4Syria. “And it’s shocking that Christians, who are held to a higher standard by our Lord, are praying even less for refugees.”

And from Open DoorsAleppo Churches Open Doors to Displaced Muslim Families.

The fighting is heaviest in Muslim areas and many Syrians from Aleppo have fled to the Christian areas to seek refuge. For many Muslims, it is the first time they have mixed with Christians.

“Many Muslims were genuinely surprised when they met Christian women in our churches willing to serve them. Their image was that all Christian women spend most of their days dancing in nightclubs and drinking alcohol! Meeting each other was a shock…

…Muslim women were surprised to see that churches offered support and programs for all Syrians, not just for Christians. “Their mosques don’t do that,” … “Many are re-thinking the faith they grew up in and have dropped their hostility towards Christians.”

2 thoughts on “Christians, Refugees and Aleppo.”

The christianitytoday article with links to other articles/reports, and especially the podcast linked to from it, also are good. I’m having a little bit of a hard time reconciling the two but will have to stay tuned.